Ferdinand described his own experience of preparing to take a penalty in the Champions’ League Final in 2008: “I was next in line after Gigsy. I couldn’t even concentrate on Gigsy taking it: my legs had gone”. Fortunately for Manchester United, Ferdinand didn’t actually have to take the penalty.
I can’t think of a better description of why you should have a psychiatrist or psychologist working with the players to prepare them for the moment when they are likely to be under the most pressure of their lives.
One person who did take a penalty for Manchester United that day was Owen Hargreaves, who went after Christiano Ronaldo, who had just missed with his attempt. Hargreaves had practised penalties with a lot of the Chelsea players, such as John Terry, when playing in the World Cup with England. They had seen him go the same way, every day: top left. Michael Ballack had also seen Hargreaves practise penalties with Bayern Munich. “I practised every day; I hadn’t missed for a month; top left. As I went up to the penalty spot, I guessed the Chelsea players were pointing where I was going to go. I thought that might happen. So when I went up there I thought “Why not just put it in the other corner on the bottom”. And as I went up I thought “Christ, that goal looks really small”. I’m going to do what I know best, and see if he can save…if my best is better than your best. And I smashed it top corner and it went in”.
It seems you have to have been brought up in Germany to be able to clear your head and concentrate on the task in hand: decide where you are going to aim for; focus on that point in the goal; focus on the ball; shoot.
The psychological problems of playing for England seem to run pretty deep. This is Steven Gerrard talking before the Uruguay game: “Basically, to realise it could be a terrible, long, frustrating summer if we don’t get it right on Thursday,” Gerrard recalled. “There is no hiding place for a player when you go out of a tournament earlier than you expect. It can be tough and it can take an awful long time to get over it. A lot of people know that in the dressing room but there are a few young lads in there too, so it was important for them to realise what is at stake and how important this game is.
“I have been there. I have had that feeling. So I know what that feeling is about and that is the feeling I don’t want on Friday morning. It wasn’t a message to scare any of the lads but it was a wake-up call to everyone in the room. It wasn’t to scare anyone, or intimidate anyone, but this is the reality of where we are and we need everyone focused and right on it, individually and collectively, on Thursday, otherwise it is going to be a terrible, long summer.”
I somehow doubt that Dr Peters (about whom more in due course) advised the England captain to dwell on the consequences of losing a match on the eve of playing it. That might, however, be at least a partial explanation for how Gerrard and the team played.
David Donner
Friday 27 June 2014
World Cup 2014
One good thing about England’s early exit from the World Cup is that we won’t have to endure seeing them lose on penalties. It’s typical that the one time we employ a psychiatrist to help with this, the team gets knocked out in the group stage before a penalty shoot-out becomes possible.
It’s probably just as well as the players’ negative attitude to the penalty shoot-out seems to run pretty deep. I was listening to Rio Ferdinand the other day saying that he didn’t think that Dr Peters’ success in sports such as cycling was particularly relevant to taking a penalty in a major tournament. Leaving aside Dr Peters’ successful work with Liverpool FC this season, Ferdinand said “I don’t think one person can have that much of an effect on people; he can ease people’s nerves maybe a little bit and make them feel more confident. But when it comes down to that moment of going up there and taking a penalty, things change”. He went on to say: “It’s one, single split second….you’re in the middle of that pitch, all alone in a massive goldfish bowl, being watched by millions; and that pressure is all steeped on your shoulders in that one moment…it’s difficult…when you walk out there and you’ve got those fans there, it’s different (from practice)."
Ferdinand described his own experience of preparing to take a penalty in the Champions’ League Final in 2008: “I was next in line after Gigsy. I couldn’t even concentrate on Gigsy taking it: my legs had gone”. Fortunately for Manchester United, Ferdinand didn’t actually have to take the penalty.
I can’t think of a better description of why you should have a psychiatrist or psychologist working with the players to prepare them for the moment when they are likely to be under the most pressure of their lives.
One person who did take a penalty for Manchester United that day was Owen Hargreaves, who went after Christiano Ronaldo, who had just missed with his attempt. Hargreaves had practised penalties with a lot of the Chelsea players, such as John Terry, when playing in the World Cup with England. They had seen him go the same way, every day: top left. Michael Ballack had also seen Hargreaves practise penalties with Bayern Munich. “I practised every day; I hadn’t missed for a month; top left. As I went up to the penalty spot, I guessed the Chelsea players were pointing where I was going to go. I thought that might happen. So when I went up there I thought “Why not just put it in the other corner on the bottom”. And as I went up I thought “Christ, that goal looks really small”. I’m going to do what I know best, and see if he can save…if my best is better than your best. And I smashed it top corner and it went in”.
It seems you have to have been brought up in Germany to be able to clear your head and concentrate on the task in hand: decide where you are going to aim for; focus on that point in the goal; focus on the ball; shoot.
The psychological problems of playing for England seem to run pretty deep. This is Steven Gerrard talking before the Uruguay game: “Basically, to realise it could be a terrible, long, frustrating summer if we don’t get it right on Thursday,” Gerrard recalled. “There is no hiding place for a player when you go out of a tournament earlier than you expect. It can be tough and it can take an awful long time to get over it. A lot of people know that in the dressing room but there are a few young lads in there too, so it was important for them to realise what is at stake and how important this game is.
“I have been there. I have had that feeling. So I know what that feeling is about and that is the feeling I don’t want on Friday morning. It wasn’t a message to scare any of the lads but it was a wake-up call to everyone in the room. It wasn’t to scare anyone, or intimidate anyone, but this is the reality of where we are and we need everyone focused and right on it, individually and collectively, on Thursday, otherwise it is going to be a terrible, long summer.”
I somehow doubt that Dr Peters (about whom more in due course) advised the England captain to dwell on the consequences of losing a match on the eve of playing it. That might, however, be at least a partial explanation for how Gerrard and the team played.
David Donner
Ferdinand described his own experience of preparing to take a penalty in the Champions’ League Final in 2008: “I was next in line after Gigsy. I couldn’t even concentrate on Gigsy taking it: my legs had gone”. Fortunately for Manchester United, Ferdinand didn’t actually have to take the penalty.
I can’t think of a better description of why you should have a psychiatrist or psychologist working with the players to prepare them for the moment when they are likely to be under the most pressure of their lives.
One person who did take a penalty for Manchester United that day was Owen Hargreaves, who went after Christiano Ronaldo, who had just missed with his attempt. Hargreaves had practised penalties with a lot of the Chelsea players, such as John Terry, when playing in the World Cup with England. They had seen him go the same way, every day: top left. Michael Ballack had also seen Hargreaves practise penalties with Bayern Munich. “I practised every day; I hadn’t missed for a month; top left. As I went up to the penalty spot, I guessed the Chelsea players were pointing where I was going to go. I thought that might happen. So when I went up there I thought “Why not just put it in the other corner on the bottom”. And as I went up I thought “Christ, that goal looks really small”. I’m going to do what I know best, and see if he can save…if my best is better than your best. And I smashed it top corner and it went in”.
It seems you have to have been brought up in Germany to be able to clear your head and concentrate on the task in hand: decide where you are going to aim for; focus on that point in the goal; focus on the ball; shoot.
The psychological problems of playing for England seem to run pretty deep. This is Steven Gerrard talking before the Uruguay game: “Basically, to realise it could be a terrible, long, frustrating summer if we don’t get it right on Thursday,” Gerrard recalled. “There is no hiding place for a player when you go out of a tournament earlier than you expect. It can be tough and it can take an awful long time to get over it. A lot of people know that in the dressing room but there are a few young lads in there too, so it was important for them to realise what is at stake and how important this game is.
“I have been there. I have had that feeling. So I know what that feeling is about and that is the feeling I don’t want on Friday morning. It wasn’t a message to scare any of the lads but it was a wake-up call to everyone in the room. It wasn’t to scare anyone, or intimidate anyone, but this is the reality of where we are and we need everyone focused and right on it, individually and collectively, on Thursday, otherwise it is going to be a terrible, long summer.”
I somehow doubt that Dr Peters (about whom more in due course) advised the England captain to dwell on the consequences of losing a match on the eve of playing it. That might, however, be at least a partial explanation for how Gerrard and the team played.
David Donner
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